


Saving Grace

by starrnobella



Series: Interstellar Novella [56]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Related, F/M, Facebook: Hermione's Haven, Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: When he was dying and in need of help, she was there. COMPLETE
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: Interstellar Novella [56]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/590830
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37
Collections: Hermione's Haven Bingo 2020





	Saving Grace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sxlvne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxlvne/gifts).



> A/N: This was written for Hermione's Haven during #HHBingo20 and to fulfill a prompt that I was given about three years ago on tumblr by halfbloodsociopath. I think they are now sxlvne on AO3. This story filled square N3 - Free Space/Writer's Choice.
> 
> The original prompt was: "The war is ended as canon with Voldie defeated. Hermione can't celebrate because she "couldn't find cheer" (not sure what this means) so she stays behind with Severus after Harry got his memories and went with ron to fight (so there's the canon divergence). She's trying to save Snape and as she thought she was failing his finger twitches and she takes him to her muggle home and "I can continue the story anyway I'd like" and the request is hoping for fluff and that they end up together"
> 
> Beta work was done by Grammarly and the only thing I own in this little tale is the plot.
> 
> Be sure to let me know what you think!
> 
> Love always,  
> ~starr

Hermione watched as Harry and Ron took off towards the castle. They wanted to continue fighting, but she felt drawn to stay here. She glanced at the Shrieking Shack over her shoulder before Harry started his trek back to the battle he mentioned that he saw Nagini attack Severus Snape inside where Voldemort had left him to die.

No one deserved to die alone, especially not after everything that Severus was willing to do for Harry just to save him and keep a promise.

"Hermione, are you coming?" Ron called to her, looking back at her over his shoulder. He had stopped his trek to the castle, and the sound of his voice stopped Harry in his tracks.

Harry looked at Ron for a moment and then glanced down at Hermione. He watched her for a moment as she hung her head. He knew why she wasn't coming with them. If Voldemort weren't looking for a fight with him, then he probably would have stayed behind. Snape was willing to give up his life for him; the least he could have done was holding his hand as he passed.

Looking up from the ground with tears in her eyes, Hermione looked to her friends and shook her head. She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Her voice seemed to fade away at the moment. However, the silence and shake of her head were enough.

"Let's go, Ron," Harry said, placing a hand on his shoulder and turning his attention back toward the castle. With a sigh, Ron turned his attention to Harry, and the pair took off once more.

With one more glance back over his shoulder, Ron frowned when he realized that Hermione wasn't coming with them. Apparently, that kiss in the Chamber of Secrets didn't mean the same thing to her as it meant to him. While it broke his heart to know that she didn't feel the same way, she was doing what she knew was right, and that was what he admired most about her.

Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and turned toward the Shrieking Shack. Her mission was simple. Find Severus and try to save him before his body could succumb to his wounds. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she wrapped her hand around the bottle of dittany she had taken out of the castle. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to need it for someone, and her initial fear was that she would need it for Harry. She never thought she would be using it to save Snape.

She opened the door to the Shack slowly and made her way inside. It was dark, and it was eerily quiet. The more she thought about it as she made her way through the building, it was almost too quiet. There was a man in here dying, shouldn't there be more noise than this? She should be able to hear him.

As she rounded a corner into the back room of the Shack, she took a deep breath and looked around the room. That was when she spotted him. He was collapsed against the wall near the window, just as Harry had described when they met outside. When she saw him, the tears started to stream down her face.

Quickly, she ran over to him and kneeled beside him. Nervously she placed two the side of his adam's apple. The pulse was barely there, but there was something there. She dropped her fingers from his neck and took his hand in hers. Reaching into her pocket, she slowly extracted her wand. Tears continued to roll down her cheek as she pointed her wand to the center of his chest.

" _Rennervate_."

Her voice was barely above a whisper and masked with sobs as she continued to repeat the spell, squeezing his hand tightly. She was wracking her brain to think of all the healing charms that she had learned during her years at Hogwarts.

Looking at the wound on his neck, Hermione started to cry harder, and she lifted the wand toward the wound.

" _Vulnera Sanentur."_

As tears rolled down her cheek, Hermione continued to alternate between the two spells in hopes that something would bring him back to her. The spells were becoming a prayer as she leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder as she continued to cry. She held his hand against her lap as the mantra continued.

It felt like she had kneeled beside him for hours. She knew realistically that it had been that long, but it was too long for the situation that they were in.

"Severus, please don't leave me. It's too soon for you to leave this world. Please come back to me," she whispered in his ear, looking him up and down out of the corner of her eye for some sign that he was still alive.

When she thought all hope was lost and that she had been too late coming to her rescue was when she felt it. She felt the slightest amount of pressure back on the hand that was wrapped around his.

"Severus?"

Instead of a verbal response, she felt the pressure against her hand once again, and that was all she needed. She held onto his hand tightly and closed her eyes. If he was going to survive this, then they needed to leave the Shrieking Shack and go someplace safe.

In a matter of seconds, they were gone.

. . . . . . . . .

Hermione busied herself in the kitchen, washing every dish, cup, and utensil she could find. She didn't want to keep hovering over him as he slowly regained his strength. The apparation to her flat hadn't helped his recovery, but those wounds had started to heal with dittany once she got him settled. Her biggest concern right now was the fact that he still seemed unconscious and barely breathing on his own.

Glancing at the hallway out of the corner of her eye, Hermione was tempted to walk down to the guest bedroom to see if there had been any change in his condition. However, as she thought about it, if there had been a change in his condition, she would have heard noises by now.

"Get over yourself, Granger," she mumbled to herself, swirling the dishcloth around the inside of her teacup. "It doesn't even matter anyway. Once he's healthy, he's going to return to Hogwarts, where he'll be the professor, and you'll be the student."

Rolling her eyes, she focused all of her energy on the dishes that had been piling up on the counter after she emptied every cupboard in her small kitchen. Who knew one person could accumulate so many dishes while living on their own?

As she continued to busy herself with cleaning her flat, every tiny sound that she heard from down the hall caused her head to turn in that direction. Severus had no business trying to get up on his own, but he was a stubborn man who was refusing to do as Hermione asked. With a sigh, she decided it was time to check on him.

She tapped her knuckles against the door as she pushed it open slowly. When the door opened, Hermione saw him lying in bed, pretending to sleep. She smiled softly to herself as she closed the door behind her before moving a chair next to the bed and taking a seat.

"Were you trying to get up too soon after being treated with dittany, Professor?" she teased.

A groan escaped Severus's lips as he turned his head to look at her. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. She did bring him back from the brink of death. "Thank you, Hermione."

"For what, Professor?" Hermione asked, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"For saving me," Severus replied, pushing himself up on his elbow and reaching out to take her hand, brushing her cheek with his fingertips. "Call me Severus."

Hermione felt her cheeks flush with color, and she turned her head to move away from his touch but was stopped when she felt his thumb slide under her chin, forcing her to look at him. She saw a glimmer of hope there that she hadn't seen before.

"You didn't deserve to die that way," she mumbled, glancing at him through her lashes.

"Others would most likely disagree," he replied, brushing her cheek with his thumb once more before lying back against the bed. "I should be healed up in a few days."

"I'll be the judge of that," Hermione announced, chuckling softly as she stood up from her chair. "You just rest. I'll bring you some tea."

With that, she walked away and slipped out the door. Severus found himself smiling at the thought of her return. Well, it may have seemed from the outside that he was not fond of the Gryffindor Princess; he always had a soft spot in his heart for her. In fact, his heart beamed with pride at every correct answer she made during class.

The simple fact that she had chosen to come back for him showed that she had a soft spot somewhere in her heart for him as well. As he told her, many others would have been quick to leave him to die.

He would be forever indebted to her saving grace for the rest of their days.


End file.
